The only companies benefitting may actually be the utilities, and the Federation of Small Businesses estimated that one-in-five workers failed to reach work at least some days over the last few weeks costing over £1.2bn. School closures also meant many parents had to stay at home to look after children, missing further days at work.
The weather-induced chaos serves to remind businesses that we now have the means to lessen the impact of this situation. Mobile and remote working tools make it possible to be productive in almost any location and avoid the weather and the risk of getting stranded. With some exceptions in manufacturing, retail and services most organisations must consider home-working as a viable alternative to lost productivity and the risk of travel. If used as part of a continuity plan the morale boost for staff and benefits for the organisation are significant. Home worker technology has never been easier, from simple VPN to unified communications with multi-point desktop conferencing.
HD video-conferencing particularly is a technology that's hard to ignore, whatever the weather. It saves cost, increases productivity and is better for the environment, with most business realising return on investment within a few months. A first face-to-face meeting is certainly the best form of initial communication but for regular meetings across different regions immersive HD video conferencing with interactive presentation and detail is now being widely adopted.
SICL can help to assess your needs and provide a calculator to work out your return on investment - give us a call to keep your business in business, whatever the weather!